Worried about going to Baolinju again, Boss Mu arranged to deliver three bowls of acorn tofu every morning.

He also pulled Song Zhenping aside and asked him for a long time before finally believing that the Song family really had a younger brother, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems I was indeed too nervous at the time and my eyes were playing tricks on me.

Seeing that he didn't ask any questions, Song Zhenping breathed a sigh of relief.

When you get back, you must warn Black Gold not to come out and scare people.

They also need to teach Xiao An not to open the door casually.

When Song Zhenping got home, it was already dark, but he was too excited to sleep. He started grinding acorns that very night, and it seemed he wouldn't want to sleep until he had made five or ten bowls of acorn tofu.

Song Liyun did not stop him, but instead helped him start a fire and boil water.

The small boat sets sail, and with a push from the current, it will be a vast and boundless expanse.

The tree stumps in Baolinju are sprouting new buds, but Song Defu in Xiaoshi Village is experiencing the coldest winter of his life.

Sitting on the barely warm kang (heated brick bed), Song Defu didn't even take off his padded jacket, just stood there with his hands on his hips, panting.

In just over a month, he changed completely.

His once chubby, rosy face has now narrowed by at least half, revealing his jawline, which had been hidden for decades.

However, the slightly worn cotton-padded jacket he was wearing fit him well, clearly indicating that he had bought it after losing weight.

Granny Gu sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), her legs wrapped in a tattered cotton quilt, her disheveled hair mostly white.

Wearing a patched short jacket, he looked ten years older, giving off a sense of being frail and old.

At this moment, she was furious, pounding her fist on the kang mat and shouting, "You'd better go to Song Laohei's place and demand her back, even if it kills you. Don't come back until he gives it to you. That slut was kidnapped by his third son."

Song Lao Er shouted impatiently, "Yes, yes, yes! All you do is urge me to ask for it every day. His third brother has said it countless times: the person got separated halfway and no one knows where he was kidnapped."

Ever since Song Liyun and her two siblings disappeared and the authorities opened a case, Granny Gu has become somewhat eccentric.

She guessed everyone in the village's secrets, and in doing so, she offended everyone in the village.

Hearing her son still speaking up for outsiders, Granny Gu pounded her chest in anger: "That's all nonsense you're telling me! If it wasn't him who abducted her, then who was it?!"

"Who is it again! Mother, you've said that a hundred and eighty times already, do you want me to get beaten again?!"

Every time Song Lao Er went to someone's house to ask, he would be ridiculed and mocked. If he encountered someone with a bad temper, he would even be beaten.

Hearing that he had to find someone himself again, Song Lao Er could no longer tolerate Granny Gu's nagging and got up angrily to go to the side room.

After Song Shuirong was taken away by Master Xue, Madam Gu moved into the side room to recuperate after childbirth.

She was beaten by Song Lao Er to the point of miscarriage, and filled with resentment, she no longer paid any attention to Song's mother and son except for eating three meals a day.

Even after she finished her postpartum period, she continued to eat and sleep all day long. While everyone else lost weight, her face became even rounder.

Seeing Song Lao Er enter, Xiao Gu Shi, who was half-lying on the kang, hummed and went to sleep under the covers.

Song Lao Er's face darkened, but he still forced himself to lower his voice and said, "I saw Shui Rong at Master Xue's house today!"

Madam Gu sat up instantly: "How is she? That old man...did he abuse her?"

After a month, I finally received news of my daughter.

Old Song frowned and grumbled, "When a girl grows up, she has to get married eventually."

He didn't dare say that Shui Rong went to Master Xue's bed on the very day she was taken away.

I've been going to the Xue residence every day for the past month, and today I waited all day at the back gate of the Xue residence before I finally saw Song Shuirong.

Shui Rong wore a satin flowered jacket and skirt, adorned with a head full of pearls and jade, and had a string of gold bracelets and jade beads on her wrists.

With her hair styled up and her eyebrows and eyes relaxed, she exuded charm and looked every bit the wealthy lady.

The purplish-blue circles around his eyes and the dark red patches on his neck that even thick makeup couldn't conceal confirmed some of the rumors about Master Xue's fetishes.

When Song Shuirong saw her father, her eyes were red, but she did not complain. She only asked about the family's situation. When she heard that her mother had miscarried and there was no money to take care of her, she took out the smallest gold bracelet and asked Song Lao Er to take it home and exchange it for money so that Xiao Gu Shi could take good care of her body.

Upon hearing Song Lao Er say, "Women always have to get married," Xiao Gu's tears immediately streamed down her face, and she kept calling her daughter "daughter."

This was something she had expected long ago, but the thought of Shui Rong having to sleep with that old man who could barely walk made her heart ache.

How could my precious daughter, as lovely as a tender shoot, have fallen to this state?

After thinking it over for the past month, Ms. Gu finally realized a fact.

The three bastards of the first wife are all their own nemesis.

One is an ingrate, one is a jinx, and one is a troublemaker.

If the Injury Star doesn't leave, it will protect you from disaster, and your unborn child won't be lost.

Furthermore, Song Liyun brought disaster back to her own home, not only attracting thieves but also harming Shui Rong; she ruined her own family.

Seeing that Xiao Gu was crying with snot running down her face, Song Lao Er quickly sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), took out a string of copper coins from his pocket, and a small paper packet: "Don't cry, this is the money Shui Rong gave you. There's also a packet of pastries inside. They were all given to you. I didn't steal any. I brought them all back for you."

Ever since he kicked his unborn son out of his womb and was beaten by his father-in-law's family, Song Lao Er has become obedient and has started to fawn over Xiao Gu Shi. After all, he is now penniless and it would be difficult for him to marry another woman.

Seeing that there was money made Madam Gu feel a little better. In any case, since Master Xue's family was rich, Shui Rong could also enjoy a life of luxury.

She snatched the money from Song Lao Er's hand and stuffed it into the quilt, then wiped her snot on the quilt before asking, "Lao Er, have you gone out to inquire? I heard that Song De Kui has returned, but the cripple and the idiot still haven't been found?"

Song Lao Er had just been pressured by Old Madam Gu, and now Little Madam Gu was asking again. He was going to be scolded at the village head's house again. He said with annoyance, "I asked, I asked, but Song De Kui said that we were not assigned to the same group, and he didn't know either."

"Don't know? Song Dekui is quick-witted; it was probably his idea."

In this respect, Madam Gu and Granny Gu are indeed from the same family, sharing similar thoughts.

There was no point in saying more when things didn't go well. Song Lao Er turned around and got off the kang with a dark face. Xiao Gu Shi hurriedly asked, "It's already cold. Why hasn't Xiao Bao come back yet?"

When the family was in turmoil, Song Xiaobao also returned from school for a few days.

At home, not only do I have to take care of my grandmother who is ill and my mother who is in confinement after childbirth, but I also have to go up the mountain to collect firewood, otherwise there won't be any firewood to heat the kang (a heated brick bed) and cook.

Having been pampered for over a decade, he couldn't endure such hardship. After only ten days, he cried and insisted on going to school, saying that the Master had said, "Learning is like rowing against the current; if you don't advance, you fall behind." He added that if he didn't go to school, his studies would be delayed.

These refined words startled Song Lao Er and the others, who exclaimed that the child had become enlightened and sensible, and dared not neglect his studies anymore.

Song Lao Er then sent Xiao Bao back to the town academy and paid two taels of silver for his room and board.